[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36548-36549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15625]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2007-E-0104 (Formerly Docket No. 2007E-0001)]


Determination of Regulatory Review Period for Purposes of Patent 
Extension; METVIXIA

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

[[Page 36549]]


ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined the 
regulatory review period for METVIXIA and is publishing this notice of 
that determination as required by law. FDA has made the determination 
because of the submission of an application to the Director of Patents 
and Trademarks, Department of Commerce, for the extension of a patent 
which claims that human drug product.

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic comments to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit written petitions along with three copies and written comments 
to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Friedman, Office of Regulatory 
Policy, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 
51, rm. 6222, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-796-3602.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term 
Restoration Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-417) and the Generic Animal Drug 
and Patent Term Restoration Act (Pub. L. 100-670) generally provide 
that a patent may be extended for a period of up to 5 years so long as 
the patented item (human drug product, animal drug product, medical 
device, food additive, or color additive) was subject to regulatory 
review by FDA before the item was marketed. Under these acts, a 
product's regulatory review period forms the basis for determining the 
amount of extension an applicant may receive.
    A regulatory review period consists of two periods of time: A 
testing phase and an approval phase. For human drug products, the 
testing phase begins when the exemption to permit the clinical 
investigations of the drug becomes effective and runs until the 
approval phase begins. The approval phase starts with the initial 
submission of an application to market the human drug product and 
continues until FDA grants permission to market the drug product. 
Although only a portion of a regulatory review period may count toward 
the actual amount of extension that the Director of Patents and 
Trademarks may award (for example, half the testing phase must be 
subtracted as well as any time that may have occurred before the patent 
was issued), FDA's determination of the length of a regulatory review 
period for a human drug product will include all of the testing phase 
and approval phase as specified in 35 U.S.C. 156(g)(1)(B).
    FDA approved for marketing the human drug product METVIXIA (Methyl 
aminolevulinate hydrochloride). METVIXIA is indicated for treatment of 
thin and moderately thick, non-hyperkeratotic, non-pigmented actinic 
keratoses of the face and scalp in immunocompetent patients when used 
in conjunction with lesion preparation in the physician's office when 
other therapies are considered medically less appropriate. Subsequent 
to this approval, the Patent and Trademark Office received a patent 
term restoration application for METVIXIA (U.S. Patent No. 6,034,267) 
from PhotoCure ASA, and the Patent and Trademark Office requested FDA's 
assistance in determining this patent's eligibility for patent term 
restoration and that FDA determine the product's regulatory review 
period. In a letter dated May 25, 2011, FDA advised the Patent and 
Trademark Office that this human drug product had undergone a 
regulatory review period and that the approval of METVIXIA represented 
the first permitted commercial marketing or use of the product.
    FDA has determined that the applicable regulatory review period for 
METVIXIA is 1,695 days. Of this time, 659 days occurred during the 
testing phase of the regulatory review period, while 1,036 days 
occurred during the approval phase. These periods of time were derived 
from the following dates:
    1. The date an exemption under section 505(i) of the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 355(i)) became 
effective: December 8, 1999. The applicant claims February 24, 2000, as 
the date the investigational new drug application (IND) became 
effective. However, FDA records indicate that the testing phase began 
when an earlier IND became effective on December 8, 1999, which was 30 
days after FDA receipt of the earlier IND.
    2. The date the application was initially submitted with respect to 
the human drug product under section 505(b) of the FD&C Act: September 
26, 2001. FDA has verified the applicant's claim that the new drug 
application (NDA) for METVIXIA (NDA 21-415) was submitted on September 
26, 2001.
    3. The date the application was approved: July 27, 2004. FDA has 
verified the applicant's claim that NDA 21-415 was approved on July 27, 
2004.
    This determination of the regulatory review period establishes the 
maximum potential length of a patent extension. However, the U.S. 
Patent and Trademark Office applies several statutory limitations in 
its calculations of the actual period for patent extension. In its 
application for patent extension, this applicant seeks 871 days of 
patent term extension.
    Anyone with knowledge that any of the dates as published are 
incorrect may submit to the Division of Dockets Management (see 
ADDRESSES) either electronic or written comments and ask for a 
redetermination by August 22, 2011. Furthermore, any interested person 
may petition FDA for a determination regarding whether the applicant 
for extension acted with due diligence during the regulatory review 
period by December 19, 2011. To meet its burden, the petition must 
contain sufficient facts to merit an FDA investigation. (See H. Rept. 
857, part 1, 98th Cong., 2d sess., pp. 41-42, 1984.) Petitions should 
be in the format specified in 21 CFR 10.30.
    Interested persons may submit to the Division of Dockets Management 
(see ADDRESSES) electronic or written comments and written petitions. 
It is only necessary to send one set of comments. It is no longer 
necessary to send three copies of mailed comments. However, if you 
submit a written petition, you must submit three copies of the 
petition. Identify comments with the docket number found in brackets in 
the heading of this document.
    Comments and petitions that have not been made publicly available 
on http://www.regulations.gov may be viewed in the Division of Dockets 
Management between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

    Dated: May 25, 2011.
Jane A. Axelrad,
Associate Director for Policy, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
[FR Doc. 2011-15625 Filed 6-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-P